1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to general field of handbags and refrigerated devices relying upon removable cold packs to provide the refrigeration, and more specifically, to the field of refrigerated cosmetics bags. This invention provides an airtight, refrigerated cosmetics handbag that can be used as a stand alone product or inserted into other, larger handbags. The handbag is used to protect cosmetics from heat degradation while the cosmetics are being transported and temporary stored The handbag has a pocket located in its top panel into which frozen gel packs can be inserted, so that the cosmetics are cooled from the top down. The lining of the pocket(s) may consist of nylon or any other material that will retain moisture and keep moisture from the refrigerated source from the cosmetics with little or no moisture escaping the shell in which the cold pack is held. The outer material of the pockets will be made of the same material and, optionally, there can be additional pockets on the inside of the handbag to hold heat sensitive cosmetics
The exterior of the handbag is constructed of heat-shielding and/or heat reflective materials. A preferred embodiment calls for thick, tightly woven blended textiles that are made from knitted/blended natural or man-made fibers. The middle layer serves the purpose of insulating the inner materials from outside heat. It is preferably made from a high quality insulating material, such as insulated foam or neoprene. The inside of the handbag additionally comprises means by which the cosmetics can be retained in a safe but compact form, and a bi-directionally modifiable valve through which excess air can be removed subsequent to the cosmetics being placed in the handbag. A preferred embodiment of the handbag has elastic bands affixed to the inside surface of the handbag at intervals convenient for the storage of common cosmetic items. The handbag can be manufactured in a variety of sizes and shapes.
2. History of the Invention
Applying some form to color to the lips has been a practice known since early Egyptian times. Lipstick as we know it today is a combination of colors, waxes, and oils. The waxes in lipstick, such as beeswax, carnauba and candelilla waxes provide the shape and make lipstick easy to apply. The oils and fats help the lipstick to maintain its moisture, and are usually a mixture of olive oil, mineral oil, castor oil, cocoa butter, lanolin, and petrolatum. Lipstick may also have additional additives such as moisturizers, sunscreens, scents, vitamin E, aloe vera, collagen, and amino acids.
The process by which lipstick is made is noteworthy with respect to the refrigeration provided by this invention. The various components of lipstick are finely ground, then heated to a melting temperature and poured into cold metal molds where the individual lipsticks are allowed to cool and harden. The cooled, formed lipstick is flashed with a flame for less than a second to burn off any minor surface burrs or other imperfections, and to create a smooth and glossy finish.
Since lipsticks, along with many other types of cosmetic products, are essentially cooled liquids, it is logical that when these cosmetics are exposed to heat again, that they tend to soften, crack, and may even begin to revert to their liquid phase. Such heat degradation is obviously undesirable, as the solid shape and form of many cosmetics is essential for their successful application to a person's face.
Many women carry a variety of lipsticks and other heat-sensitive cosmetics, such as lotions and creams, mascara, lip pencil, lip gloss, eye liner, eye shadows, in their purses. During the warm seasons, daytime temperatures often exceed 100 degrees, and should a women leave her cosmetics in her car, the temperature can skyrocket well above 100 degrees very rapidly.
Thus, there is a need for a means by which cosmetics can be kept at a cool temperature.
The prior has several examples of attempts to resolve this problem. For example, refrigerated cases which are basically mini-refrigerators are known. These refrigerated cases may run off batteries, a vehicle's electrical system, or rely upon frozen cold packs to provide adequate cooling to the cosmetics. These systems are inadequate, however, when a woman wants to carry her cosmetics with her for an extended period of time—as she cannot carry a mini-refrigerator along with her—and many of these types of systems have problems with the relatively short life span of the refrigerant.
According, the need can be further focused on a portable handbag for heat-sensitive cosmetics and, indeed, heat-sensitive products of all kinds, which can contain a portable refrigerant and cosmetics, and stores the cosmetics such that they receive adequate cooling and are not damaged during transportation. It is further desirable that the handbag provide cooling from all sides, such that the cosmetics are uniformly cooled. It is particularly desirable that at least some cooling is provided from the top panel of the handbag, as cool air falls, such that the tops of any cosmetics arranged in a handbag in a “top up” manner have a constant stream of cool air descending upon them.
An additional feature that is needed is that the handbag be usable as a stand-alone products—that is, it is attractive enough to be used as a handbag, and yet be small enough so that it fits in an average sized woman's purse if such is desired. Finally, as the cooling capacity of a refrigerant is directly proportional to the amount of airspace it needs to cool, the handbag should have a means by which excess air is removed from the handbag.
The prior art contains a number of handbag and carrying bags that have one or more pockets into which portable refrigerant packs can be inserted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,226 to Abtahi discloses a refrigerated cosmetics case, and while the case itself is not designed to be a very attractive design, the patent does discuss using two cold packs which are removable and re-freezable along the sides of the cosmetic case. This invention, however, do not provide for cooling from the top panel.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,237,838 and 5,361,603 to Merritt-Munson focus on creating a small airspace to be cooled, but fails to provide for cooling from the top panel and creates the small airspace through folding rather than a bi-directionally modifiable valve which can reversibly allow all the excess air in the handbag to be expelled.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,354 to Guinn, U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,144 to Kupferman and U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,354 to Watts provide cooling materials on various combinations of the sides and the bottom but fails to address the fact that cool air falls, and thus a cooling panel on the top of the handbag will provide for a more thorough and even cooling of the cosmetics. These patents also do not address how to effectively minimize the air space in a carrying device through means beyond simple organization and compression.
Thus there has existed a long-felt need for a portable handbag for heat-sensitive cosmetics and other heat-sensitive products, where the sides, bottom, and particularly the top panel of the handbag has means to contain a portable refrigerant and are designed to keep cool air in and reflect heat back outside of the handbag. The interior of the handbag needs to have means by which the cosmetics are stored and protected such that the cosmetics receive adequate cooling and are not damaged during transportation. There is also a need for a handbag that is manufactured in an attractive shape and design such that it can be used alone, but small and compact enough to be inserted into a larger purse. In addition, there is a need for means by which the amount of airspace in the handbag can be reversibly reduced, such that the refrigerant is not spread out cooling unnecessary air rather than being directed to cooling only the cosmetics.
The current invention provides just such a solution by having a portable handbag for heat-sensitive cosmetics and, indeed, heat-sensitive products of all kinds, which can contain one or more pockets for a portable refrigerant and straps and other means of compactly retaining cosmetics, and stores the cosmetics such that they receive adequate cooling and are not damaged during transportation. While refrigerate gel packs which can be frozen or cooled in a refrigerator or freezer are preferred, it is understood that a variety of cooling devices could be used in this invention. Any compartmentalized substance capable of being cooled or frozen, with the capacity to release cooling radiation over a prolonged period of time that could fit inside of the pockets would suffice for use with this invention.
It is also anticipated that some forms of refrigerated gel packs could be inserted into the pocket and recharged through an electrical connection to an A/C outlet or solar energy conversion device, such that the gel packs need not be removed from the pocket to be cooled or frozen again. Another embodiment of the invention provides for a small, rechargeable battery to be located in the top compartment, where the battery can recharge the gel packs, such that the gel packs can be more or less permanently stored in the pocket.
The handbag provides cooling from the refrigerant in the top panel, which provides cool air which descends down upon the tops of any cosmetics stored in an upright manner, such that the tops have a constant stream of cool air descending upon them. The location of the frozen gel pack or other refrigerant in the top panel allows for even cooling with less weight than is required by similar bags which have gel packs on several sides and the bottom. The composition of the bag is such that cool air from the refrigerated packs is directed onto the cosmetics by reflective surfaces on the interior of the handbag and, more specifically, into the pocket itself, and hot air is reflected back out by reflective materials built into the exterior surface of the bag. The positioning of at least one of the cooling packs in the top compartment of the bag allows for maximizing the cooling capacity of the bag without adding additional weight to it, as refrigerant packs on the sides and, especially, the bottom of the bag provide substantially less cooling that does one in the top of the bag, due to the fact the cooling from a refrigerated pack in the top can operate by both convective cooling and radiative cooling, while refrigerated packs on the sides and bottom can operate only through radiative cooling.
The actual top, sides, and bottom of the handbag comprise a layered series of material beginning with an outer surface of heat and light reflective material, ending on the inside with one or more pockets for refrigerant made of a temperature insulating material, such as neoprene, with a micro-fiber insulation layer in the middle. While a preferred embodiment of the bag has only one refrigerated pack in the top panel of the bag, it is contemplated that cooling packs could be arranged on one or more sides, and even the bottom of the bag as well. While a larger number of refrigerated cooling packs could add extra cooling to the bag, they would do so at the cost of additional weight, and since this bag is intended to be lightweight, it is anticipated that having a sole pack in the upper panel will suffice for the cosmetic transportation and protection needs of most women. A very thin metallic sheet optionally is placed on the inner surface of the handbag.
The outer layer of the handbag consists of thick tightly woven, blended textiles that are made of knitted/blended natural or man-made fibers. Recycled (and recyclable) materials are particularly preferred. It is contemplated that the recycled materials could come from recycled paper, plastic or various types of cloth and other commonly used clothing materials such as leather.
The next layer is an insulating layer which can be made of varying thicknesses of insulated materials such as insulated foam, neoprene or any other material that would provide and insulative barrier between the interior of the handbag and any external heat source.
Inside of the insulating layer are one or more pockets in which the refrigerating materials are stored. The lining of the pockets to hold cold pack preferably consists of nylon or another similar material that will hold moisture to separate the cold packs from the cosmetics; keeping cold air contained with the frozen gel pack with little or no moisture escaping the shell in which the cold pack is held. The outer material of the pocket can be made of same material. There can also be a pocket attached to the interior lining of the handbag in which heat-sensitive cosmetics can be held. This pocket can also be made from nylon or another material which is relatively waterproof. Cosmetics can be held firmly in place by elastic bands specifically made to hold typical shapes and sizes of common cosmetics.
The general shape of a preferred embodiment of the invention is of a compact, rectangular case, with two zippers: one between the top panel and the first layer (for heat-sensitive cosmetics); the second zipper to allow access to the second layer, which houses cosmetics that are not sensitive to the heat.
In another preferred embodiment, there is only one zipper and a removable panel separates the heat-sensitive cosmetics from the non-heat-sensitive cosmetics. The removable panel can be attached through zippers, hook and loop fasteners, snaps, magnets, or any other known means of attachment.
An additional feature that is needed is that the handbag is usable as a stand-alone product—that is, it is attractive enough to be used as a handbag, and yet be small enough so that it fits in an average sized woman's purse if such is desired. Finally, as the cooling capacity of a refrigerant is directly proportional to the amount of airspace it needs to cool, the handbag should have a means by which excess air is removed from the handbag.
An additional embodiment of the invention provides a bi-directionally modifiable valve and air-proof bladder surrounding the heat-sensitive cosmetics are provided in a particularly preferred embodiment where excess air can be expelled from the bag by merely opening the valve and pushing down on the top of the bag. This minimizes the amount of “dead air space” inside the bladder such that the cooling radiating from the refrigerated pack in the top panel of the bag is directed onto the heat-sensitive cosmetics and not dissipated by unnecessarily heating air.